FFF-Poppy the Monkey Man

Today's theme for Favorite Foto Friday is "beach." I don't have any beach pictures to share, but--surprise! I have even more Arches National Park pictures. These pictures are from Sand Dune Arch. It was kind of like the beach. If the beach was lacking in H2O. And if the beach was cold and windy. And in a canyon. Oh, okay, the only similarity was that there was sand.

Sand Dune Arch was one of my favorite places we explored on our Utah trip--we actually visited twice because it was so awesome (there are some pictures of both visits). It was otherworldly.

We strolled into a canyon-like place..and the world totally changed. We were in between two, tall red rock walls and the ground was covered in fine, red sand. Even though it seemed like we would be sheltered from the wind in between the rock walls, the wind actually picked up. The first time we visited, it was so windy, we had sand everywhere when we left. In our hair, eyes, clothes, everywhere! Even though the wind was not pleasant, the place was so strangely beautiful.See all the sand? It's kinda like a beach.Sand Dune ArchThe location of Sand Dune Arch is really awesome, but it is not as big as many of the other arches we hiked to. Here's a picture of Colter under it to kind of give you an idea how big it is.As we were exploring under the arch, I turned around and saw my dad scaling the rock walls, and then he disappeared. He turned up a few minutes later ON TOP OF THE ARCH. I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to do that, Dad. Um, Dad?
WHAT are you doing? You're going to break the arch! What if they have a "you break it you buy it policy?" Do you have any idea how much 3 million years of eroded rock formation would cost? Somebody is gonna call the rangers!
We got the heck out of there before Dad broke something.

My dad is kind of loony. He's always climbing on things he should not be climbing on and making us all worry he's going to fall. I swear, he's part monkey. I have all kinds of memories of him climbing giant trees like it's the easiest thing ever. The whole week in Utah, he climbed all over the rocks without any ropes, helmets, or special shoes. We'd turn around, and all of a sudden he'd be 50 feet above us. The big ape. Fortunately, we made it home without him falling off a cliff even though we did lose him a couple times (another story for another time). I love my goofy dad. Even if he is a monkey.